From October 24-25, 2017, livestock and feed representatives from south Asia gathered to discuss recent trends and the future of the Asian protein economy.

10 November 2017 – The BIOMIN Asia Nutrition Forum held at Hotel Novotel in New Delhi on October 25, 2017 attracted over 350 enthusiastic participants from South Asia. All attendees were accorded a grand welcome at Hotel Novotel by the BIOMIN team on October 24, which was followed by a welcome dinner.

Held every two years, the Asia Nutrition Forum is the premier scientific assembly for connecting with peers, fostering partnerships and exchanging information, experiences and best practices.

BIOMIN strongly believes in giving back to the community and the Asia Nutrition Forum is a platform for connecting experts, researchers and academics with the customers.

On October 25, customers were enthralled with the performance of ‘Gatka’ a traditional form of combat training in which wooden sticks are used. This traditional Sikh martial art form is popular among the masses and is recognized as a sport nationwide.

Following this performance, Edward Manchester, Regional Director, BIOMIN Asia-Pacific gave a brief introduction about the significance of Asia Nutrition Forum.

In his welcome speech, he said that the venue for this year’s Asia Nutrition Forum in India is special, as New Delhi represents the rich historical and cultural heritage of India.

“The Asia Nutrition Forum is acclaimed as the credible platform for knowledge sharing and has consistently shared invaluable technical knowledge for the betterment of the industry and this series of seminars are held across Asia every two years,” Edward Manchester stated.

Moderating the series of technical seminars, Dr. Sujit Kulkarni, Managing Director, BIOMIN India said that the Asia Nutrition Forum acts as an agent of change. “This event is significant and the theme for Asia Nutrition Forum ‘Driving the Asian Protein Economy’ shows how BIOMIN is committed to sustainable development,” he said.

Following this, he introduced the first speaker to the customers and marked the beginning of series of technical seminars.

Livestock rearing without antimicrobial growth promoters

Dr. Theo A. Niewold, PhD, Professor Nutrition and Health, University of Leuven, Belgium in his technical session pointed out that there is increased awareness on gut health and stated that antimicrobial growth promoters are on the way out.

Explaining about the causes of inflammation and various types of inflammation in his presentation, Dr. Theo A. Niewold said that anti-inflammatory compounds promote growth and pointed out the process of intestinal anti-inflammatory reflex and the intestine’s complex and dynamic ecosystem.

“Encapsulation is needed for concentration in small intestines to have anti-inflammatory effect” he said and emphasized the critical role that biomarkers can play in developing anti-inflammatory feed compounds.

Probiotics as alternatives to antibiotics

In the next session “Probiotics as alternatives to antibiotics for treating lameness due to bacterial infections in broilers”, Dr. Robert F. Wideman, Jr., PhD, Emeritus Professor, Center of Excellence for Poultry Science, University of Arkansas, USA explained how various experiments have proved the effectiveness of probiotics as alternatives to antibiotics.

“Probiotics decrease the incidents of lameness by 50% and studies have proved that there is significant reduction in bacterial chondronecrosis with osteomyelitis (BCO)” he said pointing out a study.

“Probiotics stimulates and protects mucous and it is a proven thing that probiotics can provide effective alternative to antibiotic for reducing BCO lameness,” he added.

Health secrets of the gut

Dr. Daniel Petri, PhD, Global Product Line Manager Microbials at BIOMIN, in his session on “Health secrets of the gut” explained in detail the key role played by gut and pointed out that intestinal microbiota influence the immune system of the host with long lasting effect. “The gut is the largest component of the immune system, and so gut health is crucial,” he added.

He described how the gut quickly gets colonized by microbiota from the environment and informed about the high risk of colonization with unwanted microbes in newly hatched chicks. “Protective gut microbes are not yet established in these chicks and so they respond slowly and hence they are at high risk,” he added.

Protein for all

In the post-lunch session, “Protein for all”, Dr. Pavan Kumar, Animal Feed/Soy Meal Manager, U.S. Soybean Export Council (USSEC) gave key statistics on the protein consumption in India with comparative figures in other developing and developed countries.

“Chicken meat is the most affordable animal protein and there is no doubt that appropriate intake of protein will result in stronger India,” he added.

Dr. Pavan Kumar suggested that all poultry entrepreneurs should adopt at least two villages in their vicinity and educate the people about the importance of protein consumption and its benefits.

“Creating awareness among the people in India about protein consumption is the need of the hour and this will have a positive effect resulting in win-win situation,” he concluded.

Feed Converter-Gift to gut health

Dr. Sudipto Haldar, Agrivet, Kolkata in his session on “Feed Converter-Gift to gut health” underlined that an uninterrupted mucous layer is important and said that the condition called ‘dysbiosis’ affects the small intestinal mucous layer, which in turn negatively impacts productivity.

“Dysbiosis also alters intestinal fluid dynamics, dynamicity of gut microbiota and gut health,” he said and underlined that when the gut health is not good, the immune response system redirects protein away from muscle development to tissue repair. “The intestinal system is the engine that drives all others,” Dr. Sudipto Haldar said.

He stressed that phytogenic feed additives have enormous potential and informed that PFAs have anti-bacterial properties, improve nutrient digestibility and increase fluidity of cell membrane. “Phytogenic additives cut down the cost of gut immunity. A good gut gives good return,” he remarked.

The role of R&D for an organization to become a pioneer

Dr. Eva Maria Binder, PhD, Vice President Research, ERBER AG in her session on “The role of R&D for an organization to become a pioneer” told the participants about the ERBER Group R&D process and the history and growth of BIOMIN over the years. “Our R&D is basically this: breaking things down to molecules so that we exactly measure how our products work, and that is how we stand out and are unique,” she added.

Explaining in detail about how BIOMIN became a leader in mycotoxin management, Dr. Eva Maria Binder said that the strong R&D team helped the firm to become a pioneer in many areas.

“We are collaborating with about 200 universities and research institutions and our entire operations is R&D based,” she said and informed about the company’s R&D activities, for example nutrigenomics and precision farming.

With this session, the series of technical seminars, which was highly informative in content came to a close. Thanking all the speakers, who came from the US, Belgium and Austria, Edward Manchester, Regional Director, BIOMIN Asia-Pacific said that the sessions offered a fresh perspective on the alternatives to antibiotics.

“The sessions were wide-ranging and highlighted scientific inputs in the respective areas. I encourage the participants here to try and follow these valuable inputs and suggestions in their operations,” he said in his concluding remarks.

He also thanked Dr. Sujit Kulkarni for the excellent arrangements in making the Asia Nutrition Forum, a huge success among BIOMIN customers in South Asia.

Following this, Dr. Hannes Binder, PhD, Managing Director at BIOMIN in his special address thanked all the speakers and the participants for their support. “BIOMIN is committed to provide excellent products and service to drive the Asian protein economy,” he pointed out.

Apart from hundreds of participants from India, customers from other South Asian countries like Bhutan, Nepal, Myanmar and Sri Lanka too participated in the New Delhi leg of the Asia Nutrition Forum.

Towards the end of the event, Dr. Sujit Kulkarni, Managing Director, BIOMIN India conducted an interview with Dr. Hannes Binder and Dr. Eva Maria Binder to let the customers know about their career path hand in hand as scientists. Participants were enthralled by the interview, in which both the top executives shared their life journey with ERBER Group.

On a specific question on BIOMIN’s future plans for India, Dr. Hannes Binder told that the continuous overwhelming support of BIOMIN customers in India and South Asia would encourage them to set up a production facility in India at the right time.

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